and there are signs that israel may be preparing for a ground operation. leland vitter reports from southern israel. [ sirens ] >> reporter: the violence in the middle east continues to escalate. militants in gaza have unleashed hundreds of rockets against israel, including new longer range weapons aimed at tel aviv. in response the israeli military has deployed an iron dome rocket defense system. >> there is a possibility it will hit inside tel aviv, the dome brings down this probability to a very small probability. you cannot play games. >> reporter: a convoy of israeli troops and tanks could be seen driving toward the border. they showed the navy hitting a hamas building close to the home of the gaza prime minister. israel bombarded the gaza strip with hundreds of air strikes, targeting the prime minister's headquarters and police compound and smuggling tunnels. >> all night we were worried whether they will shell or not or target our house or not and if anything will be left for us or not. when we came in this morning sh we found nothing. there was a h